


Wounded Bird

by Bookwyrm20



Category: RWBY
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-05 21:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16819120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookwyrm20/pseuds/Bookwyrm20
Summary: Qrow has sustained several injuries during his fight against Hazel at Mistral, but hasn't taken the time to patch them up. James cannot believe he waited so long, and insists on taking care of him.





	Wounded Bird

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first actually completed fan fiction, so constructive criticism is welcome. Hopefully I will go back and edit this to make it flow better. Also, I originally wrote this before Volume six was released. Hope you like it!

" Get… the lamp to… Atlas-" Oscar gasped before falling limp, causing Qrow to reach an arm out. He laid Oscar down gently before standing, looking at the Relic of Knowledge. He needed to contact James. Qrow sighed heavily, looking over to see Ruby and the other kids in a group hug. He smiled softly, a dull ache shooting through his heart. He missed Team STRQ.

The police finished their clean up of the white fang as Qrow went over to speak with the other adults. He could feel the shattered remains of his aura trying to repair the damage done to his body, but the adrenaline was still too high for him to feel any real pain. He reached out a hand to the two Faunus who were clearly in charge. "It's good to see other adults who aren't trying to kill us," he said.

The male Faunus laughed. "A pleasure to help," he responded, taking Qrow's hand. Qrow held back a wince. Some of the bones must be fractured, he thought. "My name is Ghira Belladonna."

"Qrow Branwen."He glanced over their shoulders. "Do you think we could borrow an airship to travel to Atlas?" Ghira seemed slightly confused at the request, but nodded anyway. Qrow turned as Ruby and the others came over. She ran her eyes over the Relic before focusing on the parents of her teammate.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna." She smiled at them.

The cat Faunus - Blake, he remembered - stepped forward to properly introduce everyone. Qrow took the chance to slip away and pull out his scroll. Communication between kingdoms had been severely damaged, but if the weather didn't interfere too much, it was possible he could get a message through to James. He clicked on the contact number, holding it up to his ear as it rang. The Relic pulsed lightly in his hands as the click of someone picking up their scroll sounded in his ear.

"Qrow? What's going on?"

"Listen, James, there's a lot going on and I can't risk it through the scrolls. We're coming to Atlas, I have an airship for us but we need to be able to get through the closed borders. And maybe a place to stay." There was a heavy sigh on the other end.

"How many people are with you?"

"There's nine of us." Another sigh, interrupted by static.

"Okay, I can handle that. Focus on arriving here safely, I'll deal with the borders. Try to call me when you get closer to Atlas." Qrow agreed, and the line went dead. Pocketing the scroll, he debated if he should take a swig from his flask. The Relic pulsed again. Qrow decided against a drink and went over to inform the group of what needed to happen.

****************

The city of Atlas rapidly approached, and when they landed, an escort was waiting for them. Qrow scowled at the leader of the small group of soldiers. James had sent none other than the Ice Queen herself to greet them. Weiss, who had been growing steadily more anxious the closer they got to Atlas, relaxed and let out a blinding smile. Qrow rolled his eyes as Weiss rushed over, but dropped the scowl from his face.

"It is good to see you again Weiss, and you, Ruby rose. Come, the General is allowing you to stay at his house for the time being." Winter turned sharply, not giving Qrow so much as a glance. He was ready to start and argument, but the Relic pulsed again. _It's not worth it, and the pain is starting to bother me._ He shook his head and followed silently, his limp becoming more pronounced.

Being the only one in the group with training for flying a ship meant Qrow had flown through the night to get them safely to Atlas.Exhaustion was starting to creep in, and he could feel bruises forming around his throat from when Hazel had picked him up and thrown him. The group had the foresight to buy winter gear before heading to Atlas, so he wasn't worried about attracting any stares. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, the bruises on his torso were becoming rather annoying. His body was sure to be an ugly sight and several of his ribs were fractured, if not completely broken. Qrow gently probed his hand and arm as he walked, feeling the splintered bone. Hopefully, he could sleep it off and allow his aura to heal the worst of the damage.

He zoned back in just as the group arrived at James' house. Well, mansion was more like it. Winter dismissed the soldiers and led the way into the house and through the hallways to arrive at a spacious kitchen. Opposite from there were sliding doors leading into a sun room, and to their left was a staircase. The right opened up into a cozy living room.

Standing in the kitchen next to a large pot of soup and several bowls was James Ironwood. He smiled as the kids filtered into the room. "I thought you might be hungry."

"Famished!" Nora yelled, grabbing a bowl and filing it to the brim. Yang was right on her heels. Ren and Weiss thanked him politely before grabbing their bowls, and were copied by Ruby and Jaune. Qrow's mouth lifted in a smile before he caught James' eye. "Qrow, can we talk in my office?"

Qrow nodded and followed James. There was a large desk covered by various tablets and stacks of paper. James closed the door behind them, cutting off the laughter from the kitchen. He turned to face Qrow, eyes severe. "What happened."

Qrow almost shot back a sassy comment about how he didn't like being ordered around, but thought better of it when the Relic pulsed. He closed his eyes and recounted the story of Lionheart's betrayal, the fight, the recovery of the Relic, and Ozpin's message to come to Atlas.

"So... now we're here." Qrow raised a hand to run through his hair but stopped when a spike of pain shot through him. He slowly lowered his arm, hoping James was too lost in thought to notice it. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side and he saw James' eyes narrow. "Are you..."

"I'm fine, Jimmy. Just sore from the fight." James studied him a bit longer, disbelief clear in his eyes, but he let it go.

"If you're sure..." James trailed off. Qrow gave a small shrug. "Alright then, you should eat too." He locked the Relic in the office vault so they could take it to the school tomorrow, then went back into the kitchen. Everyone else had finished eating and was chatting away as they cleaned up, but Qrow noticed that a bowl two bowls had been left out for him and James. Winter stepped up to them.

"I can show them to their rooms, then I was going to head back to the barracks." James nodded his affirmation and Winter motion for the others to follow her upstairs. James and Qrow sat at the table, quietly digging in to the soup. Qrow's hand was really starting to bother him, causing his movements to become stiffer. He could feel James watching him and tried to make his movements more natural, but the fractures splintering through his hand kept protesting. Thankfully they were done soon, and Qrow gathered up both sets of bowls and set them on the counter before turning on the faucet. James stood and come over, causing Qrow to tense.

"Here, let me take your jacket before you do that," James persuaded. Qrow unzipped the jacket and handed it over without turning to face him, focusing on cleaning the bowls. The pain from his hand was becoming unbearable, and his side felt crushed (which wasn't far from the truth). He heard James and Winter talking as they came out of the hallway together.

Qrow finished with the few dishes as the sound of their footsteps changed form carpet to hardwood. "Oh, you can just leave them out to dry. Thank you for washing those."

"No problem, Jimmy," Qrow said, turning to throw him a sassy grin. Winter huffed.

"It's gener-" Her jaw dropped and one hand flew to cover her mouth. James' eyes went wide in shock. Too late, Qrow remembered the most important reason for why he had been wearing a jacket - to cover the necklace of blackening bruises around his throats that Hazel had left.

He hunched his shoulders and ducked his head. "I'm just... gonna go get some sleep," he mumbled, trying to skulk away. He made for the hallway only to be stopped by James' hand in front of him.

"Qrow, what happened." His voice was a command, one Qrow didn't intend on listening too.

He snarled at James. "It's just a few bruises."

"I doubt that's all it is," he snarled back. "Remove your shirt."

"Pretty sure that counts as assault, Jimmy. I'm tired, and just want to sleep." Qrow shoved past him, but James caught his hand in a tight grip.

Qrow bit his lip to muffle a scream of pain and stumbled as black spots shot through his vision. James hurriedly let go, instead wrapping his hand loosely around Qrow's wrist.

"Winter, thank you for your help today. I will see you tomorrow." Winter hesitated, eyes darting between the two men before snapping a salute and heading out the door, casting a worried glance back as the door shut. James reached out with his other hand, maintaining his grip on Qrow's wrist, and gently laid it against his side. He guided Qrow back into the kitchen.

His voice was soft, like he was trying to coax a frightened animal out of hiding. "Qrow, please. Just let me help."

"I said I'm fine, Jim."

"Qrow." Now he was pleading, and dammit Qrow couldn't turn him away. He sighed heavily and tipped his head back, exposing the bruises in his throats to the harsh light and closing his eyes. "Fine."

James wasted no time hesitating and helped Qrow up onto the table. Every movement of his torso was sending jolts of agony through him, and his breathing started to pick up. James carefully undid the buttons of his shirt and pushed it form his shoulders, exposing the full damage.

An ugly black bruise covered the entire right half of his body, fading into purple as it reached the center of his chest and back. Several other bruises littered his left side along with a nasty gash from when Raven had gotten in a lucky shot. More bruises circled his arms, ending with the ones on his throat. James ran his eyes over the damage. Qrow spoke before he could say anything. "It looks worse than it actually is."

"Your reaction to me grabbing your hand says otherwise," James retorted. He rubbed a hand across his face. "Lay back. I can scan you for internal injuries."

"Jim I told you, I don't need-"

"Humor me," He snapped. Qrow glared at him but did as he asked, slowly and painfully lowering himself onto the table so that he lay stretched out in front of James with his legs dangling off the edge. Tension lined his body, and his hands tightened around the edge of the table as James stepped into the space between his legs.

"Relax, Qrow. I'm not going to hurt you." James slipped the glove off his metal hand and placed it gently on Qrow's right hand. Blue lights flickered on underneath the metal as the scanner activated. Carefully and slowly, James traced the tips of his fingers along Qrow's hand and up his arm. As James continued trailing his fingers over Qrow and cataloging his injuries, Qrow slowly relaxed, allowing his head to tilt back and his to slip shut.

The feeling of James' cool metal hand gliding over his skin was soothing, a fact broken when he pressed too hard against a broken rib. Qrow gasped and arched on pain, writhing away from the hand. James was quick to retract his hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize- I'm almost done, I promise it won't happen again," James soothed.

Qrow glared up at him but allowed him to continue the scan. Sure enough, a few minutes later and the technology in James' hand had created a 3D hologram of Qrow's injuries. Besides the surface bruises, his wrist was nearly completely shattered, and most of his ribs had fractured. Two of them had actually broken. The gash was just a surface wound and didn't require stitches, just some cleaning and gauze. James sighed down at Qrow, who was attempting to sit up.

"See, I told you I'm fine. My aura will undo the damage by tomorrow-"

"Qrow lay back down, I can help-"

"I don't want-"

"Just let me-"

"I'm used to it-"

"Qrow, please." At the sound of James voice, full of concern and slightly wavering, Qrow hesitated in trying to hop off the table (which was pretty hard, seeing as how James was directly in front of him). James took the hesitation to slip a hand into Qrow's hair and gently tug him back down.

With his flesh hand cradling the back of the smaller man's hand to act as a pillow and his thumb gently rubbing circles into his temple, he finally got Qrow to stop struggling. James raised his metal hand and splayed it on Qrow's chest, calling up his aura and focusing it outside of himself. The smaller man went limp beneath him as James' aura flowed forth, tangling in the shattered remains of Qrow's own aura. It swept through him, bringing together the splinters of bone in his wrist and realigning his ribs before softly closing over the gash on his side. "Don't overdo it, Jim," Qrow mumbled softly, halfway asleep. James hummed in response. He lightened the bruises from hideous black to more of a green color before deciding Qrow would take offense to the extra healing. He carefully retracted his aura and gazed down at the hunter who was nearly completely passed out in front of him.

Smiling gently, James stepped over to Qrow's side to more easily slide him into his arms. James brought him into the guest room and set him down on the bed. "Sleep well, Qrow," he murmured, covering him with a blanket and shutting the door quietly behind him. He didn't notice the upwards tilt on Qrow's lips as he snuggled deeper into the pillow, allowing sleep to claim him.


End file.
